Wednesday Morning Coffee: Lawmakers Get Their Crack At Penn State.

Good Wednesday Morning, Fellow Seekers.
Lawmakers in the state House will get their first real crack at Penn State's leadership
today since the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal became public late last year, as officials from the embattled school and three other state-related universities make their budget pitches.

In what's sure to be a standing-room only event, the House Appropriations Committee holds a 9 a.m. hearing on budget requests for PSU, Temple and Lincoln universities and the University of Pittsburgh,

The Corbett administration's proposed budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 calls for slashing taxpayer support for the four schools by $147.4 million, or 30 percent.

The schools saw their funding cut in the first Corbett budget by about 20 percent, down from the administration's more draconian proposal of 50 percent for fiscal 2011-12.

Lawmakers pressed hard to restore funding for the schools in 2011. But with Penn State's administration under the legislative microscope. it'll be curious to see whether there's a similar effort this year.

The House Appropriations Committee meets in Room 140 of the Main Capitol. We'll be there to provide live coverage throughout the morning. You can also keep track on the Twitter feed.

The rest of today's news starts after the jump.

An Agreement If You Can Keep It Dept.
The Legislative Reapportionment Commission meets at 1 p.m. today in Room 8EA-B of the East Wing to vote (probably) on a (new) preliminary map of House and Senate Districts.
Details were scarce yesterday with all participants sworn to a vow of Omerta that would have made Tony Soprano envious. But we do know (via Capitolwire) that the new maps contain few municipal splits than the ones that the state Supreme Court spilled salsa on during its Puerto Rican idyll earlier this year.

In The Meantime ...
Residents of a half-dozen Pennsylvania House districts, including oneare asking the state Supreme Court to force special elections to be held alongside the April 24 primary, the AP reports.
As we noted over the weekend, the suit is being filed by Philly attorney Kevin Greenberg.
He told the AP yesterday that the high court gave House Speaker Sam Smith and Secretary of State Carol Aichele until Wednesday to file an answer to his lawsuit that says Smith's failure to act constitutes a "dereliction of duty."Smith said yesterday that he's powerless to act until legislative mapmakers adopt a new map and the Supreme Court approves it -- a process that could stretch well into the spring.

The Power Of The Sweater Vest.Our Rick's adorably quirky (or, depending upon your perspective, angrily fanatical) and sartorially challenged campaign for the White House brought in $4.5 million in January, our Washington colleague Colby Itkowitz reports. That's up from the $2.2 million he raised the previous year.
In January, the four GOP candidates spent like ... well ... the same Washington insiders they vow to replace, showing why the campaigns are likely to increasingly rely on independent Super PACs to fund their efforts, Itkowitz reports.
The MITTBOT3000, who has found himself struggling of late, $19 million in January — nearly three times as much as he raised — as the former Massachusetts governor defeated Newt Gingrich in New Hampshire, lost to him in South Carolina and then topped him in Florida.

Petition Challenge Round-Up:
Yesterday was the deadline to file ballot challenges to candidates for POTUS, Congress, U.S. Senate and the statewide row offices. And there's a few. As we noted earlier, folks questioning the citizenship of President Barack Obama are challenging his ballot standing.
And now that they're locked in a steel-cage death match for survival, U.S. Rep. Mark Critz is challenging the petitions of fellow Democrat Jason Altmire as they vie for survival in the newly redrawn Elventy-Second Congressional or whatever the heck district it is they live in now.
Also, state Rep. John Maher, R-Allegheny, is challenging the petitions of Frank Pinto, his rival for the GOP nom for Auditor General.

Dueling Revenue Projections Dept.
The Corbett administration and the new Independent Fiscal Office agree on this much: the state will finish the current fiscal year in the hole. But in a House appearance yesterday, bean-counters at the new agency said the state will be $500 million in the red by June 30. The Corbettistas say it'll be more like $719 million.
This should be fun.

Bye-Bye, Gus.
The state Revenue Department says it's retiring its long-serving mascot, Gus the Groundhog, from advertising campaigns. Somehow, this seems more important than everything else we've written this morning.

Penn State Ain't The Only Act In Town.
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees have a full slate of hearings today.In the House:
1:30 p.m. Department of Banking
2:30 p.m. Attorney General
3:30 p.m. Office of Open RecordsIn the Senate:
9:30 a.m.: DEP
1 p.m.: PennDOT
3 p.m.: Department of Banking
All Senate meetings are in Hearing Room 1 of the North Office Building. The House holds its hearings in 140 Main Capitol.

On The Capitol Ideas iPod This Morning
Here's an old favorite: From his 1988 solo debut "Viva Hate," it's Morrissey and "Suedehead."

Wednesday's Gratuitous Soccer Link.
Troubled Man City striker Carlos Tevez has finally apologized to his bosses for a season spent repeatedly throwing his toys out of the pram. Now, the next phase of his career can begin, Jamie Jackson of The Guardian opines.

OK. That's it for now. We'll be back throughout the day with updates from House budget hearings and the latest on the legislative maps. It's going to be quite a ride. See you all back here in a bit.